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ADMINISTRATIVE CODE:A2
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NAME FOR BBS:SCIENTOLOGY AND PROPAGANDA AND THE ROLE OF FRONT
GROUPS IN SCIENTOLOGY PROPAGANDA
SORT TO:GENERAL/MEDIA
CONTRIBUTOR: IMHO-Lawrence Wollersheim
LOC. OF ORIG: Contact Lawrence Wollersheim
NOTES:
UPDATED ON:
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SCIENTOLOGY AND PROPAGANDA
I will show that founder L. Ron Hubbard promotes hate to his
members, to create a polarity and dehumanization which will
allow members to commit any illegal, uncivilized, and inhumane
act deemed expedient by the organization. How he does this is
described in his own policy directives. In HCO PL 5 October
1971:
"Propaganda by Redefinition of Words":
"A long term propaganda technique used by socialists (Communists
and Nazis alike} is of interest to PR practitioners. I know of
no place it is mentioned in PR literature. But the data had
verbal circulation in intelligence circles and is in constant
current use. The trick is -- WORDS ARE REDEFINED TO MEAN
SOMETHING ELSE TO THE ADVANTAGE OF THE PROPAGANDIST. Many
instances of planned and campaigned in order to obtain a public
opinion advantage for the group doing the propaganda. Given
enough repetition of the redefinition public opinion can be
altered by altering the meaning of a word. The technique is
good or bad depending on the ultimate objective of the
propagandist. "Psychiatry" and "psychiatrist" are easily
redefined to mean "an anti-social enemy of the people". This
takes the kill crazy psychiatrist off the preferred list of
professions... The redefinition of words is done be associating
different emotions and symbols with the word than were
intended... Scientologist are redefining "doctor", "Psychiatry"
and "psychology" to mean "undesirable antisocial elements"...
The way to redefine a word is to get the new definition repeated
as often as possible. Thus it is necessary to redefine
medicine, psychiatry and psychology downward and define
Dianetics and Scientology upwards. This, so far as words are
concerned, is the public opinion battle for belief in your
definitions, and not those of the opposition. A consistent,
repeated effort is the key to any success with this technique of
propaganda. One must know how to do it."
-- L. Ron Hubbard.
Here is an example of Hubbard using the same techniques he
ascribes to the Communist and Nazis. In Hubbard's own words,
from HCOB 24 April 1969:
"Lately public opinion has turned heavily against the
suppressive groups and the public discovery that illegal
seizure, torture and murder was hidden activity of political
psychiatric groups..."
He takes an emotional generality and associates illegal killing,
torture and seizure with psychiatry. Very good. Hubbard gets
an "A" in "Propaganda by Redefinition of Words 101."
Many of Hubbard other writings do their best to associate the
A.M.A. and psychiatry with crime, Nazi concentration camps, the
Communists -- almost anything which is despised. Hubbard
actively promotes fanatical hate in his members toward whatever
he views as an enemy.
Understanding the tremendous promotion of hate and despisement,
it becomes easier to understand the attitudes and actions of
members toward Hubbard's enemies. They are fired up by
Hubbard's own words. But why would Hubbard use such Black
propaganda? I have listed many reasons before, but here is
another. In HCO PL 11 May 1971, talking about Black PR, Hubbard
states:
"Exploding it to the public ideally is an effort to make the
public a vigilante committee."
Hubbard's sensationalized yellow journalism Black propaganda
statements attempt to turn members (and hopefully society) into
vigilantes. After being inside the "church" for 11 years, I
have seen and heard member attitudes of what should be done or
what enemies of the deserve - - and it's not very pleasant.
Hubbard uses propaganda to attack his enemies and to build a
protective religious image for the cult. The "church's"
religious front is its most important defense and its most
carefully and completely detailed propaganda package. If the
"church" were to lose its religious status it would have to pay
taxes like any other business, and we are talking about hundreds
of millions of dollars in profits, and maybe billions in the
future, that they would have to pay taxes on. No amount of
money, personnel, or materials are spared in this attempt to
create an image of the "church" as a religion. Low-level (Level
1) members totally and sincerely believe they are in a
bona-fide religion. After all, it has crosses, ministers,
clerical garb, standard religious ceremonies, regular church
services, ministerial training, and everything any normal church
in rural America would have. A great many policies and
directives have been issued to make it look in appearances like
a real religion.
"Wild Generalities"
The organization has become a master of public relations
propaganda. They carefully survey the general public to find
out what they like and dislike and what a religion should look
like. Then they attack what the public dislikes and support
what the public likes -- as long as it doesn't interfere with
their own hidden agenda.
Internally the organization warns about people who speak in
generalities and in bad or critical news. Hubbard says this is
one of the "characteristics of an anti-social personality." Yet
if you examine the propaganda against their critics, you will
find that most of their statements are generalities -- an
admission in their own private terms that Scientology is an
"anti-social" group.
Internally the organization allows no public protests or
demonstrations against itself. It doesn't allow members to seek
redress in the U.S. or foreign court systems. It requires that
they resolve all wrongs and injustices internally using their
own administration policies. Further, policy directives show
that the organization orders members to use its internal
administrative procedures on the outside world, when in conflict
with the outside world
Not once, in my 11 years as a member, did I see or hear of any
reports filed with an adversary's internal ethics divisions to
correct irregularities. (Their adversaries include the A.M.A.,
A.P.A., and the World Federation of Mental Health). If the
organization's intentions really were to correct specific
wrong-doings and wrong-doers, they would deal in specifics, and
use administrative remedies and the legal system to correct the
wrongs in society. But in my experience, all I ever saw was
generalities attacking whole groups with the propaganda
techniques mentioned earlier.
The group or organization being attacked was generalized and
sensationalized into an ogre when it might have been only a few
or even a specific individual member of the group who was the
alleged wrong-doer. My feeling and observation is that the sole
intention and purpose for their attacks on their critics is to
destroy reputations and eliminate the competition -- rather than
any honest effort to correct wrongs in a logical, legal, and
systematic manner.
It is rare that those groups and individuals who were attacked
have sued for libel or malicious damage. Probably they
underestimate the threat and do not wish to publicly engage in
mudslinging. But if the data in this report becomes more
widely understood, I would expect to see increased efforts to
use legal means to enforce respect for human rights, dignity,
law, and the Constitution in the organization's actions and
policies.
The Role of Front Groups in Scientology Propaganda
The "church" set up reform groups shortly after Hubbard, in
1966, wrote "Churches are looked upon as reform groups.
Therefore we must act like a reform group."
Scientology and Dianetics are held in such suspect repute that
the press and public seldom believes the organization's'
propaganda releases. Indoctrinated members can be made to
believe the propaganda, but in public the organization must use
front groups to defend it, speak for it, and attack its enemies.
Internal confidential church documents seized by the F.B.I.
show that social reform activities were designed primarily to
attack church critics publicly from the safe and respectable
position of a humane social reform group. An example of
Hubbard's thinking on this matter is policy directive HCO PL 12
January 1973 "The Safe Point":
"...Rule l...Get in a safe place and speak up. It is necessary
of course to have a safe place to get into, from which one can
in safely speak up. One cannot defend himself in a point that
has no defenses...Thus the Safe Point takes consideration over
Active Defense...a special unit must be set up and run at full
steam to make a safe point and gain viable PR Area Control over
all publics in the area...The PR Area Control action in a new
area can go so far as to create in the area of whole past and
future track for the activity being established. It can make it
sound old-fashioned, stable, reliable, expert, productive..."
The Scientology-front social reform groups fulfill Hubbard's
directives to a "T." Very few people will attack a social
reform group, so Hubbard now has his "Safe Point" from which
these groups can get his propaganda messages across. The social
reform groups do perform social good. If they didn't, they
would be useless to Hubbard and easily seen through. In my 11
years in the organization I've noted common denominators to all
the good works or public investigations and exposes these front
groups perform.
1) The good works are done to make Scientology or Hubbard
personally seem "old-established, stable, reliable, expert, and
productive."
2) These works lend humanitarian or religious credibility to
the organization and its founder and conceal the real source of
organization propaganda.
3) Exposes by the social reform groups are directed at groups,
organizations or individuals that are critical, threatening, or
hostile to Hubbard or the organization.
4) Programs and orders for front group activities come from the
organization's Guardian's Office section. The top executive
posts in the reform groups are guided by paid "church"
intelligence staff. They try very hard to conceal these
connections.
No doubt as "Safe Point" front groups are made known for what
they are, new ones will be set up by the organization to fulfill
the vitally needed "Safe Point" function.
If the I.R.S. were to dig through the payroll records of these
front groups, they might find the church violating its tax free
status by engaging in political activities. After 11 years
inside, my opinion is that Scientology's religious image is a
carefully created image and illusion to protect the
organization's tax free profits.
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